SpendingPulse December 2010 Retail Report: Most Categories Record Robust December Growth, Building on November’s Momentum

PURCHASE, N.Y.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--MasterCard Advisors:

SpendingPulse™

Data Source:

A macroeconomic indicator, SpendingPulse reports on national retail and services sales and is based on aggregate sales activity in the MasterCard payments network, coupled with survey-based estimates for certain other payment forms, such as cash and check. MasterCard SpendingPulse does not represent MasterCard financial performance. SpendingPulse is provided by MasterCard Advisors, the professional services arm of MasterCard Worldwide.

MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, a macroeconomic report tracking national retail and services sales, today provided summary results for performance of specific U.S. retail industries in December, 2010. Report shows that growth in December sales was robust across many retail categories, further building on November’s positive results, with some performing at better than pre-recession levels

Michael McNamara, Vice President, Research and Analysis for MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, observes, “With many retail industry sectors recording strong growth in December, we are now seeing positive momentum that is more substantial than the short surge in spending we saw in Q1 2010. This momentum was first detected during the back-to-school season, accelerating further in November. In December, some sectors performed at better than 2007 spending levels. Those include Total Apparel, Automotive Parts and Services, eCommerce and Grocery. Sectors that have lagged in performance compared to pre-recession levels include Women’s Apparel, Electronics, Furniture and Furnishings, Jewelry and Luxury.”

Regarding the impact of the East Coast blizzard which fell on December 26, McNamara commented, “For overall retail, the day after Christmas is one of December’s lower ranked days in terms of spending levels, even though it is one of the biggest in terms of foot traffic. In 2009 for example when the day after Christmas fell on a Saturday, it represented 2.5% of all of December’s sales. The last time the day after Christmas was on a Sunday was in 2004, and that represented about 2% of total retail sales ex-auto for December. That said the day after Christmas is more important to specific sectors such as Men’s Apparel, Department Stores and Luxury.”

In terms of sector specifics, December 2010 had more positive than negative stories, owing to the generally strong holiday season:

Year-over-year Total Apparel sales in December saw the third consecutive monthly increase. At 10.9% this was the year’s most vigorous monthly year-over-year growth rate, and the highest posting since March 2007. All of Apparel’s sub-sectors posted strong increases with the Family and Children’s categories helping to drive robust year-over-year growth within the sector. In 2010, Total Apparel has enjoyed 9 out of 12 months of year-over-year gains. We should note however that the December 2009 comparisons were not very difficult.

The Electronics and Appliances sector posted a year-over-year increase of 1.2% in December, following two consecutive months of year-over-year declines. The Consumer Electronics sub-category was up 1.5% year-over-year for December, though overall dollar spending levels suffered due to some decline in pricing power on the larger ticket items such as TVs. The Appliance sub-category declined by 1.3%.

Continuing to gain share at a steady rate, the eCommerce channel grew 17.6% year over year in December. This was the highest year-over-year increase since December 2007. Much of the growth was driven by the online Total Apparel sub-category, which grew 28.2% year over year, and even stronger showings in online sales of Family and Children’s clothing, and Footwear. Online sales of Electronics were up a solid 14%, while online Jewelry was up 5.9%.

December is a key month for sales in the Jewelry sector, and this month, Jewelry sales posted a double digit growth rate year over year, increasing 10.4%. This was the first time since June 2010 that the sector enjoyed double digit growth, and in December, the increase was driven primarily by strong performance by independent jewelers as well as the high-tier segment.

Luxury ex-Jewelry, which measures sales at high-end restaurants, food stores, department stores and general apparel categories, was up 8.5% year over year, posting the strongest results since May 2010.

For more on SpendingPulse, please visit: http://www.mastercardadvisors.com/us/advisors/en/merchant_solutions/ms_spendingpulse.html

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